Our team brings a track record of leadership in gifted education, experience on multiple research projects, and expertise in recognizing and responding to advanced potential with curriculum and instruction. We also have extensive experience in professional development and advanced skills in natural language processing, research methodologies, and content area instruction.
Senior Personnel
Dr. Catherine Little serves as the Principal Investigator and Project Director of Project Focus. She is a Professor in Educational Psychology at the University of Connecticut. She oversees the project, coordinating all activities in support of the project objectives and supervising the project team. She earned her Ph.D. in Educational Policy, Planning, and Leadership with emphasis in Gifted Education Administration from The College of William and Mary in 2001. She was formerly also the Project Director for Project SPARK and Project LIFT, both of which were funded by the Javits program.
Dr. Kylie Anglin serves as the Co-Principal Investigator of Project Focus. She teaches graduate courses in research methods, data science, and text analytics. Her research develops methods for efficiently monitoring program implementation in impact evaluations using natural language processing techniques, as well as methods for improving the causal validity and replicability of impact estimates. Her work has appeared in journals such as the Journal of Research on Educational Effectiveness, Prevention Science, AERA Open, and Evaluation Review. She received her Ph.D. from the University of Virginia, where she participated in the Institute for Education Sciences (IES) Pre-doctoral Training Program and received an NAEd/Spencer dissertation fellowship.
Postdoctoral Researcher
Dr. Clarisa Rodrigues is a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Connecticut’s Neag School of Education. She completed her Ph.D. in Educational Psychology at the University of Connecticut in 2023. Her background and research focus on Latinx family engagement, special education, and equity in education. She previously worked as a graduate research assistant on Project LIFT supporting data collection and analysis and delivery of professional learning.
Project Consultants
Dr. Rebecca O’Brien is an Assistant Professor of Graduate Studies in Education, the Director for the Center for Gifted Education, and the Program Director for Gifted Education and Equitable Instruction at Whitworth University in Spokane, Washington. Her work primarily focuses on identifying and encouraging high potential in students from diverse backgrounds, improving teacher preparation, aligning instruction to assessment, and supporting in-service teacher learning and instruction. Prior to becoming a professor, she served as a math, science, and robotics teacher in an urban middle school.
Staff Members
Lisa Muller serves as the Executive Program Director for Project Focus. She obtained her Master’s Degree in Forensic Psychology in 2003 and has a Bachelor’s Degree in Psychology from the University of Connecticut. She has coordinated multiple previous grants through the Neag Center and the National Research Center on the Gifted and Talented, including Project SPARK and several other Javits grants. Her primary responsibilities include coordination and planning of project activities, including organizing project materials, arranging professional development efforts, and managing other logistical aspects of the project, as well as providing support for budget management.
Siamak Vahidi maintains the project’s shared online discussion space and provides assistance with technology. He also provides support for the collection and editing of video segments for professional development and research purposes.
Graduate Assistants
Brittney Hernandez (she/her) is a doctoral student in the Research Methods, Measurement, and Evaluation (RMME) program, with a specialization in measurement. Brittney has worked in the lab for the past seven years doing measurement and evaluation work. Brittney’s interests are in survey design, data analytics, & visualization. She believes research and evaluation are both a storytelling process and rigorous survey data allow us to tell credible stories. Brittney is particularly interested in how language on surveys can impact the responses that people give. She spends most of her time developing surveys and analyzing survey data. She brings experience using RStudio and RShiny to create interactive data visualizations.
Casey Hogan is a first-year doctoral student at University of Connecticut’s Renzulli Center for Giftedness, Creativity, and Talent Development. Before coming to UConn, Casey was a teacher and instructional coach in New York City for fifteen years. She received her B.A. from Duke University in psychology and Spanish and holds a master’s degree in psychology in education from Teachers College and a master’s in teaching from Empire State College. Casey’s research interests include curriculum and instruction, urban education, and giftedness in underserved populations.
Shana Lusk, M.A. is a doctoral candidate serving as a research assistant on Project Focus. She is a member of the Catawba Indian Nation and is working on her dissertation proposal to preserve the stories of school integration during the 1960s by recording the educational experiences of her fellow tribal members. Shana received her M.A. in Curriculum and Instruction with a concentration in English as a Second Language from Arizona State University. Shana has worked as a speaker for the non-profit notMYkid educating students about Safe Dating and Healthy Relationships. She is a former classroom teacher with experience meeting the diverse needs of general education students and English learners as well as serving as a site coordinator for gifted pull-out services. She has worked to ensure that the strengths of English learners are recognized and accounted for. During her time as a teacher, she was selected as a Javits-Frasier Scholar (National Association for Gifted Children) to advocate for and develop the gifts and talents of culturally and linguistically diverse students. Shana’s research interests include text analytics and sentiment analysis, culture, indigenous populations, gifted English learners, perceptions, and teacher preparation.
Shannon McDonald holds a B.A. in English Literature, a two-year post-baccalaureate certificate in secondary education, and a M.A.T in Gifted Education & Equitable instruction. As former English/language arts public school educator in Washington State, Shannon’s desire to support the needs of advanced learners was realized when working with students in a highly capable contained classroom setting. Currently she works on Project Focus and volunteers with the Connecticut Association for the Gifted.
Amanda Tatnall is a first year PhD student in educational psychology in the Research Methods, Measurement and Evaluation (RMME) program. She is also a recent UConn graduate (go Huskies!) in psychology and sociology. Amanda’s research interests include natural language processing, elementary education, and social justice and activism in quantitative research.
Jimmy Wilson (he/him) is a second-year doctoral student in Educational Psychology at UConn’s Renzulli Center for Creativity, Talent Development and Gifted Education. He has taught creative writing, English, and ESL in rural and urban Title 1 schools in Texas for the past decade and has his M.Ed. from Southern Methodist University. He currently works on Project Focus, investigating high quality discourse, and as the emerging scholar in residence for the podcast Fueling Creativity in Education. He is also a fellow for NSF TRANSCEND educational neuroscience PhD training program. At 6’8” he is easy to spot and always willing to chat about his research interests on creativity, equity, and neurodiversity, or his adorable dog, Luke.